CYPRESS, CA- Charger softball (1-0, 0-0 OEC) defeated the Rio Hondo Roadrunners (2-1, 0-0 SCC) on Wednesday afternoon for their Opening Day appearance, 8-1.

As the game opened, the Cypress bats began to put the ball in play hard, which resulted in multiple Rio Hondo errors. In the bottom of the first inning, the three hole hitter, Kaitlyn Reynolds, scored the first run of the year for the home team. She reached on a hard hit error to third, leading to Jaylene Duarte touching home. An inning later, leadoff hitter Emily Rush found herself with two runners on and only one out. She rocketed a towering shot over the left field wall for a three-run blast to extend the Charger lead 4-1. A few batters later, the Cypress catcher, Lizabeth Gomez laced an RBI double to run up the score. 

After the Chargers tallied four runs in the second frame, the bats went quiet for both dugouts. Rio Hondo managed to score one run in the top of the 5th inning to make the game 5-1. In their final opportunity, Cypress found themselves with bases loaded in the bottom half of the 6th. With Duarte's good eye, she was able to take four balls and got herself an RBI. Two sacrifice flies followed from Reynolds and Cameron Curiel to put the game out of reach. The Chargers closed the door in the top of the 7th and won their first game of the year, 8-1. 

In their first matchup of the year, Cypress put up 8 runs from big swings and key situational hitting. Rush was one of four Chargers to have a multi-hit game as she went 2-3, scored twice and tallied runs batted in on her home run in the 2nd inning. Catcher Liz Gomez got on twice and hit in run. And first baseman Ashlyn Ortiz knocked two hits and scored once. Reynolds started on the mound for the home team as she pitched for 4.2 innings, only allowed one walk and struck out four batters. In Rush's limited 2.1 innings pitched, she struck out four without surrendering a hit or run. Cypress picked up their first win of the year to start the 2023 season off with a victory. 

UP NEXT: Cypress will be on the road for their next matchup against Long Beach on Thursday, February 2nd. First pitch will be at 2pm.

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